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South Carolina commitment Blackshear suffers injury

South Carolina 2015 commitment DE Shamiek Blackshear of Bluffton injured his knee Friday night and will have an MRI on Tuesday. His coach, Ken Cribb, said the injury occurred without contact.

"He didn't get hit, it was where he stepped," Cribb said. "You can't see it on film."

Cribb was not willing to offer an opinion as to the severity of the injury.

"We have a great trainer and a great group of doctors and I leave it up to them, Cribb said. "I can only hope that it's not serious." Clemson 2015 commitment DE Clelin Ferrell of Richmond, Va., suffered a season-ending knee injury in his opening game of the season two weeks ago.

In other recruiting news:

It won't be long now before LB Amonte Caban of Smiths Station, Ala., makes his college decision he said last week. The decision could come as soon as this week. Caban is down to USC, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Louisville, with the Gamecocks, Bulldogs and Vols the top three. Caban is planning to visit USC for the Georgia game, and his mother wants more information on what to look for from USC. "She wants to know how much access she has to me and where I'll be staying, what I'll be doing and how much academic help I'll get." Caban said he will take some official visits to the schools other than the one he commits to. He said USC has been recruiting him the hardest, but he considers his top three schools to be even with him at this point.

USC remains involved with DB DaVante Davis of Miami. The cornerback is in regular contact with recruiter Grady Brown and is considering the Gamecocks for an official visit along with Alabama, Florida and Florida State. He has not scheduled any visits. At one time, Davis was committed to Syracuse.

Former Summerville DB Darin Smalls committed to USC last year with an eye towards playing right away because he knew the Gamecocks needed cornerbacks this season. But those hopes were doused by torn knee ligaments in the third week of the season. And adding true insult to the injury, the NCAA prevented Smalls from enrolling this fall. Smalls said there was only a 50-50 chance he could play this season because he's still recovering from the knee injury in which he tore his ACL and partially tore his LCL. But he still wanted to come in with his class. He made a qualifying test score but he made the mistake of improving too much, so the score was flagged by the NCAA and Smalls currently is being held as a Clearinghouse hostage. Smalls has not retaken the test because the NCAA is investigating the validity of his test score, and he's not allowed to retake the test until that investigation is complete. If the NCAA validates the score, Smalls won't need to take the test again. But if the score is not validated, he will have to retake the test and get a qualifying score to be able to enroll at USC in January. Smalls said he's still 100 percent set with USC and is working out and running every day. "My first priority is conditioning," Smalls said. "I know college ball has faster guys and you need the conditioning to run more. If I come in there conditioned, I'll be fine. My knee is fine but it's not 100 percent yet." Smalls says he's waiting on the NCAA's report to come to him in the mail. In the meantime, he talks with Gamecocks coaches every day to keep them up to date on his situation.

DE Darian Roseboro of Lincolnton, N.C., committed to Michigan on Friday. Clemson was on his short list.

Juniors

OL John Guthrie (6-3, 295) of Byrnes has visited Georgia Tech twice and is showing a lot of interest in the Yellow Jackets. His next visit to Atlanta will be to see Georgia Tech host Clemson. "I grew up a Clemson fan," he said. "They're my childhood favorite. It's a good school and it's close to home." The Tigers have shown interest along with N.C. State and North Carolina. He has heard some from USC, but said the evaluation process is ongoing. Other than Georgia Tech, he does not have any visits scheduled.

WR Samuel Denmark (6-0, 180) of Hanahan is hearing from Clemson, USC, Notre Dame and N.C. State. He has attended camps at the two in-state schools and is hearing similar comments from both coaching staffs. "They're telling me to keep working and that they are going to keep evaluating me," Denmark said. "Clemson, I like the coaching staff. I camped there this summer and I like the campus a lot. At USC, the atmosphere, especially at the games, is awesome. I didn't get to see much of the campus, but hopefully I can go back for another visit." Denmark plans to attend the Notre Dame-Michigan game this fall, and it will be his first look at the Fighting Irish. As a sophomore, Denmark he had 44 receptions for 1,020 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Basketball

6-6 PG CJ Williamson of Orlando, Fla., thought he had a visit set with Clemson for Sept. 22 but hasn't heard from recruiter Steve Smith in a couple of weeks to confirm the visit despite reaching out to him several times. Not a positive sign for him with the Tigers as far as Williamson is concerned. "That's what's kind of scaring me," Williamson said. "I think they've got a player already in my position I guess that committed. Either he (Smith) is busy or he's pulling away. All the other schools are texting me like 24/7." Williamson has seen Missouri jump in on his list. He will visit there Oct. 11. Texas Tech also remains strong with him, and Tubby Smith has an in-home visit set for Sept. 9. Williamson will take an official visit to Lubbock on Oct. 18. He also has a visit set with Virginia Tech for Sept. 12. Williamson plans to commit on his birthday Nove. 26 but won't sign until the following April. As for Clemson, the Tigers have been the leaders for PG Ty Hudson of Mableton, Ga., and may have decided to focus their efforts on him.

6-5 Tevin Mack of Dreher was at USC on Thursday night and Georgia on Saturday night for the football games.

6-8 USC target Chris Silva of New Rochelle, N.J., made an official visit to Seton Hall last week. He is scheduled to visit USC on Sept. 12.

6-10 Nick Marshall of Lexington, Tenn., committed to Memphis last week. He also had USC, Tennessee, UConn, Indiana, and Mississippi State on his short list.

6-10 Zach Price has transferred to Winthrop from Missouri and has requested a waiver from the NCAA for immediate eligibility.

6-8 Keith Stone of Deerfield Beach, Fla., made an unofficial visit to Florida recently and has two official visits set right now, Alabama on Sept. 21 and USC the weekend after that. The Gamecocks, he said, are showing him a lot of interest. "I've been hearing a lot from coach Frank (Martin) and coach Lamont (Evans)," Stone said. "They are really pushing for me to come there. They tell me you have to earn your minutes, but I could be a starting three or four." Stone admits to not knowing very much about the Gamecocks program right now and he's never visited. But he said the Gamecocks and the Gators have been recruiting him the hardest. Stone doesn't have a favorite and is not sure when he'll make a decision or if he'll even sign early. Last season, he averaged 29 points and 8 rebounds per game.

Baseball

2017 SS Mason Streater of Byrnes committed to USC on Friday night.

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